Transportation options needed

Tuesday

Jun 24, 2008 at 12:01 AM

Rapidly rising gasoline prices are hurting the entire country, but states like Alabama are particularly impacted.At the start of this week, AAA Alabama reported the average statewide price of regular gasoline was $3.92 a gallon. That means motorists are paying $1.10 more per gallon than they did a year ago.No section of Alabama — or, for that matter, the country — has been hit harder by the price increases than the Black Belt. If ever there was a candidate for additional federal transportation assistance, it is this impoverished region.In Wilcox County, a middle-income family spends 16 percent of its income on fuel, the highest in the country, according to the Pain at the Pump Index compiled by the Oil Price Information Service.Sumter, Greene, Perry, Hale, Pickens, Lamar and Marengo counties all rank in the top 10 percent of the Pain index. The fuel and feed crunch is depressing agriculture profits, a fact that is bound to increase the pain for residents of these largely rural counties.Some of them have opted for employment at distant locations, like the Marion residents who took entry-level jobs at the Mercedes plant in Vance. However, according to Perry County Commissioner Tim Sanderson, the 120-mile daily commute took its toll and they lost their jobs.The state provides no money for public transportation. There are no state matching funds to expand the work of agencies like West Alabama Public Transportation, which serves eight counties.Given the state’s anemic revenue stream, the best hope for help is the Delta Regional Authority, a federal-state economic partnership that serves 20 Alabama counties.Its representatives have been on a “transportation listening tour” in the DRA service area. Funding for pilot transportation programs from the agency could offer hope for beleaguered Alabama residents in this time of economic pain.